The LipGloss Admission
by FairDrea
Summary: Dr. Sheldon Cooper has a reason for not wanting Amy to wear lip-gloss. One that has nothing to do with how slippery it looks.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I'm taking a bit of a risk here and stepping into a fandom I've never really entertained the notion of even looking at before. And then one night, as I watched some newer episodes of TBBT in hopes to catch up to where it's at now, I suddenly found some insane appeal to the idea of Sheldon and Penny. Well, imagine my complete joy when this website provided me with a plethora of visual stimulation for my new-found addiction. Which I've been shamelessly pouring over because there's a LOT of it! For once! My whole greed for odd couples was answered with eye-candy! It doesn't happen very often. I keep picking fandoms where no one's took the risk and really applied some "out of the box" ideas to hooking up characters in a not-true-to-show form.

So, forgive me for any lapse in here in regards to the show. I've caught up TBS wise but up until Bone's switched to a new night, was unable to watch the new episodes because Bones and my husband's Wrestling needs came first. So if there's any discrepancies, I apologize for them!

This is an intended one shot that I'm posting with a few other ideas bouncing around as well but since it took me so long just to get this much…I'm not going to push it unless I really want/have to. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own TBBT and make no profit off of the writing of this fic. And my hubs can take full credit for getting me into this show so…technically I guess he could kind of take credit for this bit of ficcage…which I would never let him. J

Synopsis: There's a real reason Dr. Sheldon Cooper doesn't care for lip-gloss on Amy Ferrah Fowler. And it has nothing to do with how slippery it looks.

**The Lip-Gloss Admission**

There was something about a wine glass she just loved. Maybe it was the shape, maybe it was the feel of the delicate stem between her fingertips or the way the light filtered through the liquid. Or maybe it was the fact that post breakup, it was just downright handy to have a wine glass that held half a bottle of red. Or, if you were Penny on New Year's eve, the other half of the bottle of red.

After dropping the empty wine bottle in the garbage as she sauntered past it, Penny sighed and went to the couch, flopping down and eagerly losing herself in the New Year's Eve festivities flashing across her television.

This was new for her – celebrating the start of the New Year alone.

_Not like I had a choice in the matter, _she thought with only a mild touch of bitterness.

Things between herself and Leonard had been something much worse than tense ever since the night of her ill-planned drunken proposal. They'd been trying to force normalcy and she'd been ignoring those little warning signs that she should have been paying attention to – the ones that said "dead-end relationship, please turn back now."

And then Priya had waltzed into the boy's apartment behind her brother, surprising them all. Penny had no idea what had made her look to Leonard. She had no idea why that had been her immediate reaction. But she was glad she had. She watched his eyes glass over, that nerdy smitten smile spread over his face and knew…she _knew_…that there was nothing left of them. Whatever they were doing, it was fighting for something that had died a miserable death quite some time ago. And if she was honest with herself…_really_ honest with herself…she would grudgingly admit that what she had for Leonard was some ill-placed notion of what love with someone intellectually out of your league _should_ be. It wasn't love. It wasn't pity…but it wasn't love. It was something that cautiously played with the blurred line between inappropriate and damaging. They'd remained on the inappropriate edge which gave her hope that a friendship would still be salvageable from the remains of something that was never meant to be.

One hour-long conversation, several tears and some yelling later she was a single woman well on her way to being shit-faced. Which, in her honest opinion, was right where a woman should be after a second…no…third break up.

"Third," she muttered, scrunching her nose up slightly before waving a dismissive hand in the air and lifting her glass to her lips. Third…thirty…she'd lost count. And it didn't matter anyway.

She turned the television off and sat back with a deep sigh that she felt clear to the deepest part of her lungs, where the air burned ever so slightly before it was expelled in one long breath.

_In oxygen, out carbon dioxide,_ she thought with a tiny smile. Basic science…but she couldn't help thinking that Sheldon would be slightly proud of her for knowing it.

That thought gave her pause. Why did she care if Sheldon was proud of her? She'd accepted, quite some time ago, the fact that Dr. Sheldon Cooper found himself to be above the circle of friends he associated with and therefore rarely complimented any of them on anything they did when he found it to be "something easily accomplished by grade-schooler's."

"He's insane," she muttered, tilting her head back and taking a long drink in efforts to silence the voice nagging in the far recess of her mind. Still, little bits and pieces filtered through the alcoholic haze she was forcing upon herself – reminders of how the "beautiful mind" whack-a-doodle would allow her in his room where no one was allowed to be, would only tell her in that stern way of his that she was in his spot without throwing another strike at her, how he would eat her cooking, their easy and constantly insulting banter every Saturday night surrounded by the hum of washing machines and the warm scent of fabric softener, how he had done yoga with her even after realizing she'd meant yoga, not Yoda, his support in her decision to quit the Cheesecake Factory and dedicate her time to pursuing her dream.

With each item quietly added to the list, something settled uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. Something that sparked fear and curiosity at the same time. She lifted the glass to her lips again, this time draining the contents as her brain started to spin wildly out of control.

She couldn't possibly be devoting a thought process to _him_. Sheldon Cooper…annoying, patronizing, lanky, blue eyed, long fingered, tall and confident Sheldon Cooper with his knowing smirk and annoying schedule that so often coincided perfectly with her own. Dr. Crazy who had saved her, who had peeked because that's what the hero always did, who had made uncharacteristic attempts to appease her when she was angry, comfort her when she was sad or hurt.

"Oh, my God, I'm drunk." She sat up quickly, relishing in the feel of her head spinning from the affects of alcohol and not the thoughts running rampant through her head. At least that's what she told herself. Because the alternative was terrifying. The alternative was something she wouldn't…_couldn't_ think about.

She stood, ready for a refill and to bury the rest of whatever the hell she was feeling when that signature knock stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned slowly to face the door, listening to the way he said her name after each repetition in his horribly OCD way. And even as she told herself to ignore it because the alcohol hadn't completely swept away those disturbing thoughts quite yet, she walked to the door and pulled it open, looking up into those blue eyes and feeling something twist in her stomach.

"Hey, Sheldon."

"Hello, Penny," he returned, clasping his hands behind his back and giving a precise nod. "Might I come in?"

There was no escaping anything. She was as trapped now as she would be tomorrow or next week, or a month from now. "Yeah." She stepped aside, allowing him to pass and closing the door behind him. "What's up?"

He stood in the middle of her living room, looking comically uncomfortable. When he didn't make a move to sit down, she sighed and rolled her eyes. She may have been a bundle of confused nerves with her recent self-discovery, but that didn't mean his usual mannerisms couldn't still annoy her. "Can I get you something?"

"Why yes, a beverage would be suitable," he said, taking up his customary spot on her couch.

_And a refill for me would be suitable,_ she thought as she went to the kitchen to pull a bottle of water from the fridge and slosh room temperature red wine from a new bottle into her glass. Returning to the living room, she handed him the water and sat down beside him, careful not to sit too close.

"Why are you here, Sheldon?" she asked, taking a sip before setting her glass on the coffee table.

"I'm here because social etiquette dictates that I show a suitable amount of support and remorse in light of a friends recent break-up." He shifted slightly to face her, studying her for one long, uncomfortable moment before saying in a voice that was significantly softer and lower than his usual tone, "I'm sorry about you and Leonard."

His words were equally distressing and calming – distressing because regardless of how necessary it was, break-ups and the unexpected rifts they caused not only in relationships but in life in general sucked and calming because it was him and there he was, giving her that damn support again that he never doled out for others. At least none that she was aware of. And in a voice that made the part of her trying to hash out her emotions melt slightly."Thank you, Sheldon."

"You're welcome."

Silence fell between them. She drank her wine, he sipped his water and the minutes ticked by with no need to fill the space between them.

"You said something to Leonard," Sheldon started almost hesitantly. "Right before you left."

Penny sighed and slumped back, dragging a hand over her face and feeling so impossibly tired. It was tempting to kick him out. To go sit in a hot tub and try to sort out the mangled mess in her brain that refused to relent. Or to go to sleep and force the thoughts into silence. "I said a lot of things to Leonard."

"There was one thing in particular though…one that I can't seem to stop thinking about."

She peeked at him from between her fingers and pursed her lips. "What did I say?"

"You stated that no relationship could survive without complete honesty." He looked at her now, his eyes completely unreadable. "What did you mean by that?"

She let her hand fall to her side and rolled her head on the back of the couch to regard him more fully. "I meant that it can't. Relationships are one hundred percent commitment. You can't…half-ass your way through one like I was doing with Leonard. I said that I loved him but…" her voice dropped and she whispered a curse as tears burned the backs of her eyes. "I don't think I loved him the way a person is supposed to love someone. I loved him because he wanted me to and I just wanted…to keep him from being so insecure all the time. I wanted to feel like I belonged with someone smarter than me. I forced this idea of love into my head when it was," she swallowed hard, hating herself for what she was about to say, "when it was never really there."

"I see," he said quietly, casting his gaze down to the water bottle clasped between his hands.

She suddenly couldn't stop looking at his fingers. They were so long, so masculine yet so elegant. How was it possible for a man to have hands like that? Hands the looked like they could play a woman's body like a well tuned instrument. Hands that looked like they could be so loving and yet entirely lethal.

_Drunk…so drunk,_ she thought, appalled by her train of thought.

"Penny, can I tell you something?"

Sitting up, Penny reached for her glass, intent upon swigging the contents down and hoping that she would feel the burn of alcohol clear down to her toes. "Sure, sweetie."

He opened his mouth, closed it, set the bottle of water next to her now empty glass of wine and tried again. "The reason I believe I cannot seem to rid myself of your statement is because…I believe it applies to my own relationship."

She frowned, her brows drawing together. "Sheldon, what are you talking about?"

He looked at her then and her breath caught painfully. His blue eyes were fierce and determined, so blue that she wanted to look away but couldn't. "I lied to Amy."

"About what?" she asked, hearing her own voice as if it were miles away.

"About my distaste for lip-gloss." He was staring at her mouth now, a banked fire in his eyes. This wasn't happening. Sheldon Cooper didn't look at girls this way. He didn't look at _her_ this way. And yet…he was and the heat in his gaze was causing her heart to pound in her ears, the blood to rush through her veins until her pulse tripped erratically. "It has nothing to do with how slippery it makes ones lips look."

"Oh?"

The tips of his fingers brushed her cheekbone and she drug in a sharp, unsteady breath, startled by the sudden contact. She had no idea how they'd gotten so close, how she was nearly in his lap, reaching for his hand like she had every right to and then grasping it like it was the only think keeping her there. That list from earlier, the one she had tried to drown in wine, was writing itself out persistently, adding items.

_The way he helped you attempt to start a business-._

_When he came to you for help with his work-._

_Every time you call him Moonpie and he sternly reminds you that only his Meemaw calls him that-. _

_When he had his hands all over your delicates-._

_When he kissed you-._

The last slammed into her with the force of a Texas Longhorn as his lips brushed softly over hers. She was so stunned that she couldn't move. All she could do was sit there as that mouth moved close to her ear and a hushed tumble of words fell free.

"I find the idea of Amy wearing lip-gloss distasteful because of how agreeable I find the sight of you wearing it, Penny."

She watched him stand, watched him allow her nothing more than a cursory nod before leaving her apartment. And then she stared at the door thinking the only thing her muddled brain would allow her to think.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD had kissed her and stopped the world entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I so easily give in to peer pressure. Lol. I should warn you all,I only have the vaguest idea of what I'm doing here! If you see something off or anything like that, please let me know! Also, I'm going to vent a bit - Sheldon Cooper is a hell of a character to write!

To all of you who reviewed, who marked this as a favorite or followed...wow, just...wow. You guys are amazing! Thank you so much!

**Chapter Two**

_ "I find the idea of Amy wearing lip-gloss distasteful because of how agreeable I find the sight of you wearing it, Penny."_

The words wouldn't stop repeating themselves in her head, stuck on a constant loop just like that moment where his lips touched hers, softly and hesitantly. Sheldon Cooper had kissed her. _Willingly _kissed her.

Whatever drunken haze she had attempted to force on herself post-break up had been effectively swept away by that shocking fact. In its place a riot of emotions collided relentlessly against one another. Had it been anyone else – she would have polished off the rest of that wine. But this was Sheldon and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to have anything but a clear mind when it came to thinking about what the _hell_ he'd just done. Because it wasn't just a kiss. It wasn't just some breathless admission. It was a moment that had the power to alter both of their lives entirely.

She shifted on the couch, pulling her phone from her pocket and thumbing through the menu until she found her messenger icon. She had Sheldon's number in her phone but she'd never sent him a text message before. She'd never had a reason to. If she had a question or needed to talk to him about something, she could just waltz across the hall and talk to him. She thought about doing that now and a breathless laugh escaped her. That would go over well, especially if Leonard was there to provide an audience.

"Not going to happen," she muttered, selecting Sheldon's name and opening up a blank message box. Her fingers stumbled through typing out the only question she could really ask him right now.

_ Sheldon…why?_

She stared at it for several moments, hesitating. There was a very large part of her that wanted things to stay the way they were, uninterrupted by confused emotions and lanky physicists. That part wanted to maintain a status quo where everything was simple and she and Leonard went back to being friends. Where she could go into their apartment whenever she pleased and not have to worry about the repercussions of it. Where she could distract herself with men that had no iota of brilliance but were well off enough in bed.

But then there was a different part of her, a new part that apparently had been unleashed by the simple peck of one Dr. Sheldon Cooper. That part of her wanted to know what he meant, wanted to step into unknown waters and be swept away into something challenging, frightening and exhilarating. That part of her was quick to point out how shallow and distasteful the other part was. How everything _that_ part of her wanted sounded cheap and pathetic.

Before she could doubt her actions, she quickly hit send, then tossed the phone aside and stared at it as if it were some alien being standing immobile in her living room. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, wrung her hands together and reminded herself several times to breathe. This was just Sheldon. He was her friend. She'd known him for years. There was no reason to be so anxious over something as silly as a text message.

Her phone buzzed and she jumped, cursing softly as she reached for it. She unlocked the screen and her breath caught.

_Because it's always been you, Penny. And what you said holds a truth I am not able to ignore. Relationships cannot work when they are built on contracts and dishonesty. You would not allow that…neither should I. There's sound logic to your irrational romantics. _

A startled laugh escaped her as she read his words over and over. Her irrational romantics – yeah, that was Sheldon alright. Drawing in a deep breath, she held it as she typed her next message.

_That's the point. It's me. I'm nowhere near what a woman with you should be. I don't think on your level. I drive you insane. You drive me insane. _

She hit send and then called herself a million different kind of stupid. Or she would if there were a million different kinds of stupid. Sheldon would probably know just how many there were. What was she playing at? What was she even doing?

Again her phone buzzed and again, she jumped. She was _anticipating_ text messages from Sheldon. The idea became more and more "out there" with every second that passed.

_I'm not doing this through text messages, Penny._

Her heart sank. But he was right. This was a ridiculous thing to pursue through text messages. Or at all. She was out of his league. Way out of his league. And yet…that thought didn't stop her.

_Then come back over here._

This time she set the phone down carefully, slowly reaching over to place it on the coffee table and then leaning back. She pressed her hands together and held them up to her face, her fingertips resting against her lips and nose. She kept her gaze fixed on the blackened screen, once again holding her breath as she waited.

_Knock, knock, knock. _"Penny."

Once, twice-.

On the third, she got to her feet and went to the door, placing her hand on the knob and trying to still the frantic beating of her heart. She told herself it was only because he was her friend and he wanted to cross a line, that she was afraid of destroying a relationship. She ignored the persistent whisper that told her it was more.

Pulling open the door, she looked up into fathomless blue eyes. Without a word, she stepped aside and he walked in. _Just like he did a half an hour ago, _she thought as she closed it behind them. Except a half an hour ago her heart wasn't pounding in her ears and her mouth didn't feel like the Sahara. She joined him on the couch, keeping her eyes fixed on his hands where they lay folded in his lap.

"Penny," he started, his voice low but still holding that firmness that was so _him._ "I apologize for my actions. Though I do not regret behaving the way I did, it has become apparent that I may have acted a bit rashly and made you uncomfortable."

"Not uncomfortable," she said quickly, looking up and shaking her head. "I just…Sheldon…when did this…how did this happen?"

"I've always had a fondness for you, Penny. That shouldn't come as a surprise. You're the only one I've allowed to come in my room. With the exception of Amy, you're the only one I've shared a somewhat physical relationship with. You are the _only_ person who's food I willingly eat." He twisted to face her, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Do you remember the day you moved in? Leonard invited you over and you referred to me at one of those-."

"Beautiful Mind genius guys," she finished, her voice faint as she remembered the way he'd looked at her. That look that said he was both proud of his work and flattered that she'd given him such a compliment. It had vanished the second later when Leonard had eagerly pointed out his own scientific work, replaced by a stern glare and the clipped tones of someone who felt he was clearly superior. Leonard was the greedy, yapping puppy in the window compared to Sheldon's alpha male pacing restlessly in the wild.

"Leonard is my friend. And it was very clear that he was interested in you. Unwritten social codes dictate that when a friend is interested in a possible conquest, you graciously step aside. The 'bro code' I believe Wolowitz calls it."

"What's changed?"

He studied her, carefully putting together what he was about to say next. She could see the wheels turning in that complicated brain of his.

"You have," he stated simply, looking at her as if he was just figuring the fact out that very second.

"So, what. Now I'm good enough for you?" she said defensively. She felt like their conversation was going in circles with no sustenance to it. If they didn't get to the heart of the entire matter and soon, she was going to shove him out the door, lock it and never entertain the thought of anyone in apartment 4A again.

"I'm not Leonard," he said very simply. "You don't get to pull that hissy fit crap with me."

Penny's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open slightly. Had he seriously told her she didn't get to pull hissy fit crap with him?

"I know you better than anyone, Penny. And when you walked out of our apartment tonight, I knew it was for good. You had the look of a woman set to take on life single-handedly and I admired you for that. And to be honest, that scared me. I thought if I didn't say or do something, I'd never see you again."

"Sheldon, sweetie…I would still live across the hall," she argued softly.

"Would you?"

She could only look at him, her mouth working to give him an answer. But she couldn't. As she'd walked out on Leonard, she had been actively mapping out an escape plan that involved moving. She had nothing here anymore. No job, no boyfriend. She could be just as successful in another apartment, another suburb…anywhere as far from Leonard as she could get. And she couldn't lie and tell Sheldon she hadn't been thinking that. So instead, she fought the idea of them.

"Look…Sheldon…I'm out of your league. And not in the whole 'hot girl/nerd' sense. You're brilliant. You have this life planned out with Nobel prizes and fame through scientific discovery. I'm just some ex-waitress from the Cheesecake Factory taking no-talent roles in shows that cut me from scenes and hoping for someone to come along and tell me that I've got what it takes. And you have Amy-."

"Who doesn't challenge me," he said, easily cutting her off. "She's my academic equal in every way and we maintain conversation easily enough. Intellectually we are compatible. But she doesn't infuriate me the way you do. She doesn't question me or argue with me or sing 'Soft Kitty' the way you do. With her…I feel pressure to perform to a standard and partake in distasteful activities such as holding hands or cuddling." He looked away then, a faint red staining his cheeks. "When it comes to you…those are all things I _want_ to do."

"Sheldon," she persisted, forcing her voice past the lump of emotion that had formed in her throat. "I'm not good enough for you."

He sighed, pursing his lips slightly, then reached over and took her hands. His skin was cool against hers, the thumb brushing her knuckles causing a sudden and unexpected ache of longing to wrench her heart.

"Might I suggest that you take some time to rediscover yourself? You sell yourself short, Penny. Find the woman I see."

"And if I don't?" she asked, terrified to hear his answer.

He smiled then, one of his rare, boyish grins that she preferred. "Then I will help you find her."

Tears clouded her vision. She drew in a shuddering breath and nodded. "It might seem like I'm avoiding you."

"Luckily, I'm a patient and understanding man."

A watery laugh escaped her and she reached up to swipe impatiently at a tear that had started making its persistent way down her cheek. Together, they stood and she walked him to the door, feeling lighter than she had in years. She felt like she had when she had first moved here – optimistic, slightly shaky, filled with nervous excitement that was only slightly subdued by the bittersweet ache of leaving a life behind.

He turned to face her at the door and her fingers suddenly itched to touch him. Would his hair be as soft as it looked? Would he pull away from her? Or would he lean in and welcome it?

"So, what about us?" she asked.

"In due time," he answered. "Of course, I strongly recommend you give it some serious thought on your road to self-discovery."

"Of course," she echoed, unable to stop the wide grin spreading over her face. "In order to do that, I need to have all of the facts. That's right, isn't it? To form a valid theory I should have something to back it up?"  
His eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "Something like that," he allowed, drawing it out to the point that it almost sounded as if he were asking her a question.

"I don't think a little peck is enough to backup a theory, Dr. Cooper."

She had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen slightly in surprise before she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. She expected him to resist, to stiffen and balk at the contact. Instead, his hands came to rest lightly on her hips and he tilted his head to the side. He caught _her_ off guard. It was supposed to be the other way around. As she sagged against him though, she couldn't find it in her to care. Her mind went fuzzy and blank, her nerves tingled. She was suddenly seventeen again - standing under the bleachers and getting her first kiss from Edward Thompson, the Captain of the basketball team. Except this was so much better. Sheldon's lips moved against her with an achingly sweet tenderness. She could taste his innocence, his curiosity. He would easily be the thing that fueled her sexual fantasies and that very thought terrified her enough to pull her away from him.

Dragging in a breath, Penny released him, dropping her hands to her side. "Goodnight, Sheldon."

He smiled shyly, grasping the door handle. "Goodnight, Penny."

She closed the door behind him, waited until she heard the door to 4A open and close, then pressed her forehead to the cool wood surface. The road to self-discovery was going to be a hell of a long one if she couldn't stop thinking about how good Sheldon Cooper's lips felt on hers.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long! Things have been insane here weather-wise. We're constantly in windchill/blizzard warnings and my internet went down for the weekend. Yay, fun times! But hopefully the wait was worth it. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, who added this to their watch and favorites lists! You guys are simply amazing! One of the most responsive fandom's I've been in and I've been in quite a few! And a big thank you to Daggs2378 for being an awesome sounding board and giving me a few great ideas to fuel this fire, and to Mikell and Melody for being my betas!

**Chapter Three**

_"You're brilliant. You have this life planned out with Nobel prizes and fame through scientific discovery. I'm just some ex-waitress from the Cheesecake Factory taking no-talent roles in shows that cut me from scenes and hoping for someone to come along and tell me that I've got what it takes."_

Brilliant. She'd stated the obvious and yet, the next day, staring down an empty whiteboard from his office chair without one scientific thought even bothering to run rampant through is "brilliant" mind…he felt anything but.

Equations refused to be pieced together. Scientific discovery refused to be discovered. And all because of a woman. There was a sentence he never thought he'd think of. Or rather, seven years ago never thought he would think of. He wasn't foolish enough to lie to himself about where Penny stood. She'd been a constant variable in his life from the moment he'd laid eyes on her standing over a box in shorts and those obnoxious boots, of all things. But then she'd smiled and Sheldon Cooper suddenly knew what desire felt like.

He'd entertained the idea long enough to delve into a little innocent and entirely uncomfortable flirtation. What he thought counted as flirtation, anyway. And Leonard had put him right back in his place where he'd faithfully remained, devoted only to science and his path to success in his field. That man who had desired Penny had been effectively silenced. Not gone…but shoved into some far corner, duct tape placed firmly over his mouth and his itchy hands shackled to a proverbial wall of stone and steel.

Who knew that some little clip of honesty from the object of his affection would be the tool to free that part of him. So painfully simple. One statement and there he was, standing at her door and nervously facing the enormity of destroying their friendship for the sake of something more.

He hadn't counted on her reacting the way she had. He'd systematically worked through scenarios. None had involved him taking a step back so that Penny could find herself. He hadn't even known she was that lost to begin with. There may have been something to _them_. But until she figured herself out-.

He leaned back with a sigh. _Things were so much easier when I didn't care for this emotional hogwash._ But he did. And now there really was no turning back.

There was just one more object firmly placed in his way. One he was reluctant to remove because although he'd been deemed a robot by his friends at times, Sheldon Cooper had a heart. He didn't enjoy causing emotional pain in others. And with that thought, he composed a quick text to Amy asking her to stop by.

He swiveled around to face his computer just as Leonard came out of his room.

"Good evening, Leonard," he greeted casually, noting the determined stride of the younger man. "Going somewhere?"

Leonard cast him one of his censored looks, the ones that spoke of shame and secrecy. "I was…ah," he started, reaching for the messenger bag hanging over his office chair and slinging it over his shoulder, "just heading over to Raj's place. He picked up Iron Man 3 so we're all going to watch it."

"We're all?" Sheldon questioned archly.

"Well…not all. Just…me, Raj, Stewart and Priya."

Sheldon offered up nothing more than a hum in response. Let Leonard think about the implication of that disinterested response. In truth, the involuntary reaction to Leonard's willingness to just pick up with another female not even a day after the end of his relationship with Penny was a great dose of disgust that took him slightly off guard. So really, a hum was all he was capable of. What he _wanted_ to say would more than likely be considered highly inappropriate and best left unsaid.

Leonard's brow furrowed slightly. He watched Sheldon for a moment before moving hesitantly towards the front door. "Well…goodnight Sheldon."

"Goodnight, Leonard."

For the next half an hour, Sheldon busied himself with composing a detailed outline that would describe his current findings involving String Theory. He knew the material already, so composing an outline required next to nothing in the way of thinking. It served as a distraction, which was exactly what he needed to take his mind off of Leonard's sordid behavior, to take his mind off of Penny, to take his mind off of the way she had kissed him last night, her soft hands pressing against the back of his neck and the scent of warm honey and apples wrapping around him, dragging him into her-.

A knock startled him and he jumped, looking down at the blank document. Nothing. He'd spent the last half hour staring at nothing.

Bewildered, he closed his laptop and went to answer the door.

His girlfriend stood on the other side, shoulders back, clothed appropriately, no makeup, no bright green eyes that did strange things to his heart rate.

_Not Penny-._

He shoved aside the disappointment and moved back to allow Amy in. "Good evening, Amy."

"Good evening, Sheldon," she returned, her clipped tones echoing his own.

She went to the couch and he retreated to the kitchen, filling a tea kettle and putting it on the stove to heat before moving to his box of assorted teas.

"Pick your poison," he joked lightly, borrowing a phrase he'd heard Penny use several times when working behind the bar at the Cheesecake Factory.

"Given last night's festivities and the poor decision to consume copious amounts of alcohol, I believe something with ginger would be suitable for digestive purposes."

"Right you are," he agreed. Because this was what they did. They had conversations focused on no-nonsense, factual information. When social protocol entered into the comfort zone they'd long since established, things got tense and were awkwardly fumbled through. He couldn't help but compare it to his interactions with Penny – how they sparked each other's ire, how she fought him like crazy and drove him up a wall. And regardless…he was never uncomfortable fighting with Penny, with challenging her and raising to the bait she so often threw out at him. He didn't awkwardly fumble his way through those situations. He thrived on them.

The kettle whistled and he calmly filled two mugs before setting it down on the opposite burner, taking up the two mugs and joining Amy in the living room.

"I must admit," Amy started, accepting the tea from him with a curt nod, "I was a little startled to hear from you. This is not one of our pre-scheduled evenings to spend in each other's company."

"Well," Sheldon sank down in his spot beside her, his stomach crawling uncomfortably. This would be a moment in which a normal male would 'beat around the bush' so to speak in order to achieve a means to an end. Sheldon Cooper, however, was not a normal male. "Something has come up and I feel it imperative that we discuss the terms of our relationship contract. More specifically, the termination of it."

He waited for the inevitable_, "but Sheldon, why?"_

It never came.

She leaned over slowly, placed her tea on the coffee table and sat back, folding her hands primly in her lap. "Well, Sheldon…that certainly took you long enough."

He frowned and went very still. Again, a moment in which no amount of systematic mental role-playing had prepared him for. "I beg your pardon?"

"Am I correct to assume that the abrupt termination of our relationship contract has to do with your deeply rooted and diligently ignored feelings for Penny finally coming to light in the wake of her break up with Leonard?"

For quite possibly the first time in his adult life and excluding all times caused by Penny, Sheldon Cooper was stunned into complete silence.

Amy gave him a sad smile. "Am I also correct to assume that your silence means you have found yourself dumbfounded by my incredible insight? Really, Sheldon. I'm a Neurobiologist. I study the human brain for a living. And though your intelligence and self-control far exceeds that of the general population of your sex, you are still male. And you are still human. It is human to want, to desire and to notice the opposite sex. It is wired into our visceral content to explore the options of mating. Though you'd like to attempt to do so, you cannot deny our genetic makeup."

She shifted slightly, turning to him but careful to maintain a small distance. That was something Penny never did. Penny invaded his personal space with ease, knowing full well that such close quarters with other people made him anxious. He swallowed hard and continued to listen while his brain went into overdrive on a level he wasn't accustomed to.

"Might I provide you with some observations I've collected in our time together?"

"Do I have a choice?" he replied somewhat archly.

"You do. And your decision is to allow me to move forward. Welcome to your awakening, Doctor Cooper."

He snorted derisively, not believing for one moment that she was about to lead him down some clearly laid out pathway to an epiphany. He cared for Penny on a level he cared for no other. As far as human emotions went, it was that simple.

"You once told me of a discussion with Beverly Hoffstader that centered on your superiority complex. Did you discuss much beyond a fact you already knew to exist?"

"Well…no."

"Interesting. Had you done so, you would have realized that you surround yourself with people who you are easily able to reinforce that authority with. Leonard, Rajesh, Howard…even myself. You maintain a level of personal distance through intellectual superiority. With Penny, you are unable to do that."

"Are you implying that Penny is above myself intellectually?" he asked incredulously.

"Far from it. The only person you consort with on a daily basis that even comes close to your level of intelligence is myself. However, that being said…she is your match."

"My…match? Amy, really, I pinned you above all of this romantic hokum."

Her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "And yet, you're not? I've been in your company for years, Sheldon. That's more than enough time to observe the interactions between yourself and Penny. She is able to approach you in a way that no one else can. You antagonize each other without real malice. Something as simple as seeing the way you two collaborated throughout the duration of Rajesh's scavenger hunt spoke volumes of how you are able to act as a team. There is a level of intimacy that may go disregarded by most. Even by yourself, possibly. But not by me. Shall I continue?"

Sheldon swallowed thickly and cast his gaze to the floor, feeling blindsided by things he knew but didn't really understand. "No," he stated quietly after the silenced had stretched on.

"Then…at least allow me to simplify this for you. I would hope for you to come to the conclusion on your own, however that time in which it might take you to do so may become quite tedious for Penny." She reached over, placing a hand over his and he flinched, immediately feeling ashamed. Amy paid no attention, leaving her hand where it was.

"Sheldon. You love her."

His head jerked up, a denial resting thickly on the tip of his tongue. A denial that died a quick and painless death at the look she was giving him. Sympathy, sadness, and the one thing he hadn't expected to see from her. Forgiveness.

"You might not be willing to admit that to even yourself just yet. But you _do_ love her."

"What do I do?" he asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to that question." Amy patted his hand once and stood, adjusting the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "Penny might, however. Good night, Sheldon."

Out of common courtesy, he stood and walked her to the door, opening it for her. "Good night, Amy Ferah Fowler. And…thank you."

A small smile, another clipped nod and she was down the stairs, leaving him to deal with a mess of emotions he'd always thought himself to be above and the disturbing fact that he, Sheldon Cooper was just as human as everyone else.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Another kind of filler chapter. I could have added more but I didn't want it to get too long. This was more introspection on Penny's part.

To the anonymous guest with the questions I'll answer them but would much rather you leave signed reviews so that I can do so in a PM instead of an author's note. However, that being said, I do feel your questions were good ones and deserve an answer. In regards to Amy staying with Sheldon even though she knows he has feeling for Penny…I think this is entirely believable. People stay with people in hopes that the feelings they might have for someone else will become secondary to the feelings they have for them. And given Amy's situation – how she was kind of alone and didn't have much for friends before becoming involved with Sheldon, I think it's entirely believable that she wouldn't want to give any of that up through a possible break up with Sheldon.

And in regards to Sheldon's feelings…being attracted to someone and loving them are two entirely different things. Sheldon knows he's attracted to Penny and that he enjoys her company, that he allows her things he doesn't allow others. But to have someone point out that he's in love with her and having him realize the truth of that for the first time…again, entirely reasonable that he would have the reaction he did. Thank you for your questions and I hope that answers them. And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed and added! You guys are amazing! Now, onto the meh update! :D

**Chapter Four**

_"So, what about us?"_

_ "In due time. Of course, I strongly recommend you give it some serious thought on your road to self-discovery."_

Penny was being a coward. She had validated locking herself in her apartment by reasoning that she had no job, no auditions, and no reason to go anywhere. But the truth was…she was being a complete coward. She didn't want to risk having to face Leonard, Howard, Raj, Amy, or Stewart. The only one she wanted to see was Sheldon and she couldn't. She didn't have an answer for him yet. She had made no steps towards figuring out what she wanted out of life and though part of her fought to tell her that Sheldon was one of those things, a far more adamant part of her that had become so accustomed to being the pretty, dim-witted neighbor argued that he couldn't be.

She'd gotten extremely tired of that part of her by 9:30am after a night of tossing and turning and instead of trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted, she started asking herself why not. Why couldn't he be something that she wanted?

Determined, she sat down with a bowl of Lucky Charms, a pen and a notebook and started writing. It seemed like the most uncomplicated part of trying to battle back the uncertainty involving Sheldon. Her cereal slowly disappeared and when she was done she had a neatly complied list of things that might keep her from pursuing a relationship with Sheldon.

_What's Stopping You?_

_1. Sheldon is a freak about his schedule._

_2. Sheldon has a mild case of undiagnosed OCD. It would be very difficult to learn how to live with this and accommodate it._

_3. Sheldon is scary smart and I'm nowhere near his level of intelligence._

_4. Our lifestyles are completely different. (Victoria Secret Fashion Show vs. Comic-con, shoe shopping vs. comic book shopping, etc. etc. etc.)_

_5. Leonard and Amy_

She looked the list over, tapping a pink lacquered nail on the table top as she did so and trying to keep an objective state of mind. After several minutes, she gave up, deciding she needed to clear her head first. She started a pot of hazelnut flavored coffee, then went to the bathroom and indulged in a very long and very hot shower, forcing herself to think of mundane things like grocery lists, possible auditions and removing traces of Christmas from her apartment now that the holiday was over.

Once dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt boasting the logo of her old high school in Omaha, she sat down with a cup of coffee and looked over the list again. Number five was a cop-out. At least on the Leonard part. There was no reason Leonard should stand in the way of her happiness with another man. He had before and she'd be damned if she would allow that kind of guilt into her life again.

With a little more malice than necessary, she scribbled over his name but left Amy's alone. That was a little too difficult to face right now.

Number one was a little less of a cop-out but still on that level. His adherence to his schedule hadn't bothered her for years. In fact, she couldn't help but notice how easily she seemed to slip into it sometimes. That too was crossed off the list.

Number three and four ended up crossed off as well. There was nothing she could do to change either of them. They were about as different as two people could possibly be and those differences had never managed to change their relationship. They had always been friends, regardless of how much she didn't know or what their interests were. And, since she was delving into who Penny _really_ was, she might as well admit that some of those geeky things were growing on her. She actually wanted to go to Comic-con, she'd argued with Bernadette and Amy over the intricacies of Thor's hammer and the one year she'd dressed up as Super Woman had been kind of empowering.

With two arguments remaining, she mulled over the one she could do something about – Sheldon's OCD tendencies. Those…those were a bit terrifying. She'd watched documentaries about women who'd married men with obsessive compulsive disorder. She'd listened to the women lament the loss of their lives, watched the relationships deteriorate even through the intervention of specialists to help the individuals cope with their disorder. Sheldon didn't seem nearly as severe as some of those people had been…but the fact remained that he had some very specific ways of living that she didn't know whether or not she could adjust to.

She looked around her apartment – at the clothing hanging haphazardly over couches and chairs, at last night's dishes piled messily beside the sink, at the sloppily stacked cases of DVD's, most of which didn't even hold the right movies. Her apartment made him twitchy – so twitchy that whenever he came over she could read just by his body language alone how difficult it was for him to refrain from cleaning.

_This could be a chance to find out if you even have it in you to be a different person. To clean, to be orderly…give it a shot. Start small. How hard could it be?_

Tossing the pen against the notebook, Penny went to refill her coffee, set her iPod to random and went to work. She started small – dishes, laundry, vacuuming. She did the usual…and then took it further.

She tried to think like Sheldon, tried to see her apartment through his eyes and understand his need for order.

And it started with the coffee cups. They were moved to the bottom shelf, organized from the small to large. On the second shelf she switched the glasses around, mirroring what she had done with the coffee cups then put any glass that could hold an alcoholic drink on the top shelf. She didn't stop when that was done. She moved on to the next cupboard and the next, remembering how things were "just so" in his kitchen and doing the same. Everything littering the surface of the island was swept away, replaced by a small wicker basket that held what few pieces of mail she had.

Once the kitchen was done, she moved into the living room, stacking the magazines on her coffee table neatly, moving the remote to the side table, rearranging pillows, pulling DVD's from the DVD shelf along the wall, checking to make sure the right movie was inside each case and putting them back in alphabetical order. She even went as far as to take a decorative bowl she hardly used and placed it on that same shelf. Her keys were tossed there with a loud ceramic clatter and a small laugh.

From the living room she moved to the bathroom where towels were arranged by color and type and the decorative ones that matched her shower curtain were folded and hung over the towel rack next to the shower. Bottles were arranged in the medicine cabinet by what they were instead of haphazardly cluttered.

She finished in her room, not going to the extremes that Sheldon did but still doing much more than she normally would, down to folding and putting away all of her clean clothes and making the bed.

By the time she was finished, the sun was sinking and throwing long shadows over her apartment. Filling a glass of wine, she turned on a lamp in the living room and just stood there, taking in the extent of her hard work. She'd thought his need for such a high level of cleanliness was crazy but she couldn't deny that it felt so much better. Without clothes hanging everywhere, without dishes on every surface or mail and magazines tossed on counter tops, with her flat iron, brush and hair products in the bathroom where they should be, without _chaos_ it felt so much more…clam. Relaxation seeped into her weary muscles and she felt an amazing sense of accomplishment.

She chewed on her bottom lip, then smiled and went to the pad of paper where it still rested on her kitchen table. With a flourish, she crossed off number two. She was certain there would be times that his tendencies would drive her up a wall. But that's what would make things so interesting, so _Sheldon._ And there were things she would do that would make his face twitch like crazy. But couples, _good_ couples thrived on that, didn't they?

She walked around the couch and sank down onto the cushions. There was still something she had left to do, something she hadn't written on that list because…it just didn't belong there. It wasn't something that was stopping her. It was something she had been ignoring because taking one moment to think anything about _it_…that could change everything.

She rolled her shoulders, one after the other, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and released it slowly. Then, without having to delve very deep, she replayed their kiss from the previous evening. The flutter of nerves that she'd fought to ignore returned. This time, she allowed herself to feel them. She remembered the sweetness, the hesitation and how the kiss had brought her back to a much simpler time in her life when kisses were stolen under bleachers by boys too nervous to grope.

What would it have felt like though…if they hadn't just stopped at a simple searching peck?

She imagined Sheldon's hand sliding over her hips, gripping the fabric of her t-shirt as he pulled her body up against his. She imagined the hardness of his chest pressed unyieldingly against hers. She imagined running her hands through his short hair, gripping it as she angled her head for a deeper kiss and was rewarded with a low moan before his tongue hesitantly sought hers. She imagined him pushing her back until her legs hit the couch and she toppled down to it with him – the solid weight of him on top of her, his leg pressed against the apex of her thighs as he kissed her into mindless oblivion.

Her pulse raced, her breath became quick and shallow and her eyes flew open. Good lord…why hadn't she devoted more of her time to thinking about _that_ possibility. It almost made everything else irrelevant because regardless of how many reasons she could think of that would scare her out of being with Sheldon, the thought of kissing him like that and the riot of erotic sensations it provoked made every uncertainty worth it.

"Holy crap on a cracker," she muttered, shoving her hair away from her face. She was surprised to see the appendage shaking slightly. Who knew she would ever see the day where fantasizing about the brainac across the hall would turn her on this much?

Abandoning her half finished glass of wine, she went in search of the one non-breathing thing that could ease the sudden ache low in her stomach. And she thought of Sheldon the entire time.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this took so long! This was another filler chapter and I really hate writing those. I know they're necessary sometimes but it doesn't make it any easier to write them when wishing I could get to the good stuff, you know? Thanks so much for all of your reviews, your favorites, your support in writing this. I sure appreciate you all!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Big Bang, or Sandra Bullock. :)

**Chapter Five**

Penny left the casting set, her steps fueled by anger and humiliation. This morning had started off so perfect. She'd woke up early (something else she was trying that laughed in the face of her 11 o'clock rule) and gotten ready, excited by the text she'd received from her agent last night about an audition where they were filming some new dramatic romance. She should have known better than to get overly excited at the idea of auditioning for something more than a television show or commercial. Because, as it turned out, it wasn't an audition for a movie. It was an audition for a feminine hygiene commercial being shot in the same studio as the movie. Not even three words in and she could tell she held no interest in the casting directors. They'd dismissed her while looking over head-shots from the next person with an unconvincing promise that they'd be calling to let her know. She wouldn't hear back. She knew those looks, that dismissal. She'd be getting nothing.

And that was it. She'd thrown herself out there too many times, faced rejection after rejection. And had it been rejection for different reasons, she might have continued to keep her feet firmly planted in achieving the dream of being an actress. But the rejection always centered on one thing. She was never what anyone was looking for. The vagueness of it rankled and she would much rather feel fury than the aching pain of another denial that made her seriously doubt herself.

Letting that fury get the best of her, she yanked her phone from her back pocket as she stalked down the hallway, scrolled to her agents number and slammed her finger down on the screen to send the call. Her agent answered on the third ring, her nasal voice only serving to further irritate Penny which was perfect. It gave her the last tiny bit of ammunition she needed to go uber-bitch on her.

"I'm not entirely sure if you're choosing not to listen or if you're actually completely dense but I told you _months_ ago that I didn't want any more commercials."

"Penny, listen. Commercials are a great opportunity-."

"No, they're not! Especially when you can't even get cast in a commercial! You keep landing me auditions where I have no interest in auditioning. Are you purposely _trying_ to set me up for failure?! We've gone over and over and over this…are you just _not_ listening?!" She turned a corner and almost took a poor man down who was coming the opposite direction, too far gone to her seething anger to do much more than offer a quick apology before sinking her teeth into her agent once more. "Do you even look at my qualifications?"

"Of course," her agent sputtered on the other line, the sound of shuffling paper clear in the background.

"Quick, list three of my qualifications from my head-shot."

"I…um…well there's…Penny, listen-."

"No, you listen," Penny ground out, clenching her teeth in frustration. "This isn't working, Val. You're fired."

"Penny, wait-!"

Before she could hear another word, Penny disconnected the call and stared down at her phone, her anger quickly bleeding away and replaced by panic. She had just fired her agent. _Fired_ her agent. Her hands started trembling slightly as the magnitude of what she had just done hit her.

"Ma'am?"

She lifted her head slightly at the sound of the voice but didn't turn towards it. She couldn't stop staring at her phone.

"Excuse me."

A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped, whipping around to face the person who cut her moment of stunned disbelief short. She vaguely remembered him as the man she'd almost taken out moments before. "I said I was sorry," she bit out defensively.

"Oh, hey," he lifted his hands to ward her off, giving her a charming smile. She couldn't help noticing how perfectly straight and white his teeth were and how the 8 o'clock shadow complimented his square jaw. "No worries about earlier. Are you okay? That sounded like a pretty intense conversation."

"Oh, yeah," she looked down at her phone then slipped it in her back pocket. "My agent. _Ex_ agent."

His smile became sympathetic. "Philip," he said, holding out a hand.

She took it, mustering up her best fake smile, the one she used to pacify men when she wasn't interested but wanted to at least be polite. "Penny."

"So, what brings you to studio 7B, Penny?"

Penny's smile faded and she grimaced, remembering the disinterested faces and the line of hopefuls that she was almost embarrassed to be associated with. Not because she thought herself above them, but because she pictured something so much more glamorous about making it big in Hollywood. "Another failed audition," she muttered. "That's why I fired my agent. She keeps hooking me up with all of these commercial auditions when it isn't at all what I want to do. I thought I was auditioning for a movie."

"Ah, that dramatic romance?"

"Yeah, that one." She sighed and shoved her hair out of her face. "I wasn't optimistic about getting a role but I the idea of auditioning for something besides commercials and stand-ins…I was really excited for something bigger."

He watched her for a moment, not pitying her but close enough to make tears burn her eyes breifly. "You want to get some coffee? They've got a buffet set up down the hallway on the set of that movie. We could sneak in, grab some food."

She set herself up for the brush-off. It would have been perfect, the delivery so often rehearsed that she could do it in her sleep. But then her stomach growled and she remembered that breakfast had been skipped and her supper last night had been a pathetic pack of ramen. And coffee sounded _so_ good right now.

"Come on," he coaxed, graciously ignoring the loud rumbling and offering his arm. "I promise I won't ask you out."

She hesitated a moment longer, then gave in with a sigh and slid her arm through his. The idea of a full breakfast buffet _did_ sound amazing.

"So, how long have you been trying to land a gig acting?"

"As long as I've been here. So, about seven years now."

"Wow, that's-."

He floundered and she released a soft snort of laughter. "A long time. I know."

"How many auditions?"

"Too many to count."

Phillip pushed a door open and held it as she stepped through and into a cavernous room filled with lights, cameras and people rushing around. A living room dominated the center, stylishly decorated and crafted to be a believable setting. Sitting on the couch, looking over what appeared to be a script with a woman sporting a pixie cut and a set of headphones slung around her neck was-.

"Oh, my god," Penny breathed, going still. "That's…that's Sandra Bullock!"

Phillip glanced over his shoulder before leading her past a crush of people to a long table well out of the way. "Huh, look at that. Good thing this wasn't your audition, huh?"

Penny couldn't tear her gaze from the stage. Sandra Bullock was her all-time favorite actress. And there she was, being fussed over by make-up specialists and going over a script looking so poised and beautiful. "I think I could have given her a run for her money," she joked.

"I bet you could have."

Something warm was pressed into her hands and she looked down. A cup of coffee steamed happily away, the scent wafting up and inviting her to sip. She did, surprised by how delicious it was. Well, of course…they wouldn't serve Sandra Bullock Foldgers. This was probably something fancy and entirely too expensive for Penny.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked, taking another sip as she followed Phillip around the table. Fruit spilled over a huge platter in the center of the table. Plates filled with bagels, donuts, croissants and Danishes surrounded it. In between were small bowls with fruit toppings, cream cheeses and others spreads that looked entirely foreign to Penny.

"Sure. Everyone's too busy to even notice."

Penny nodded, picking up a Danish and taking a small bite. "Oh, my god," she muttered around the mouthful, her eyes rolling back in ecstasy. "This is amazing!"

"Sandy's sister owns a bakery. Everything except the fruit is from there."

Penny gave him a skeptical look. "Sandy?" she said, before taking another bite.

Phillip just gave her a mysterious smile before picking one out and indulging in a taste. Behind them, the activity picked up, a whirl of activity sending people scurrying around the set and camera-men positioning themselves.

A woman with a clip-board separated herself from a smaller group and quickly made her way over to where they stood. Her straight, black hair swung just below her chin and framed long face with flashing green eyes. "Phillip," she said brusquely, sparing Penny a quick glance before devoting her full attention to the man beside Penny. "We're ready to start whenever you are. We're kind of on a time crunch here, so if you could-."

"I'm sorry, Quinn. Had some business to take care of."

"What, your assistant couldn't?"

Phillip smiled patiently. "She decided not to show…again."

"Really, Phillip…why are you even keeping her around. She's entirely unreliable," Quinn scolded.

He paused for a minute, tilting his head to the side in contemplation. "You're right. I'll fire her first thing in the morning." Then, he turned to face Penny who was quickly figuring out that Phillip was more than just a man she'd passed in the hallway. Her mind tried scrounging up last names that sounded familiar to pair with the first. "Penny, would you be interested in taking her place?"

She stopped chewing to stare at him in shock, then swallowed and placed a hand to her chest, feeling the need to curl her fingers into a fist and slam it against her ribcage in efforts to loosen the knot stuck in her throat. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I know you you're looking for an acting gig but in the meantime, if you're not currently employed…I'd really like it if you'd consider being my personal assistant. Full time, full benefits. Medical, dental, vision, red carpet events."

"I don't…I mean…I'm-."

Oh God, she was floundering. She couldn't _think_. Why couldn't she think? And as if she wasn't horrified enough, she couldn't stop herself form the question that came next which made things so much worse. "Who…who are you?"

The grin he gave her this time was quite rakish and suddenly she knew the answer to her own question. It was a smile she'd seen before. On a red carpet…at the Oscars. _Oh, my god…oh…my…GOD!_

"Phillip Danburque," he said. "Heard of me?"

Heard of him?! How could she not have heard of him? The man had as many Oscars for his film direction than she had awards for Prom Queen, Corn Queen or anything else she'd been awarded for including Little Miss Omaha when she was five. She made some pathetic squeak in efforts to respond to him and he laughed.

"I probably should have said something earlier. It was just nice to have a conversation without being noticed for once. But really, I was impressed with how you handled your agent. I could use an attitude like that. I know it's not an acting job but the pays good. Twenty-one hundred."

"A month?" she asked, quickly adding it up in her head. The pay was a far cry from her waitressing job, even with tips added in and it was a step in the direction she wanted to take.

"A week."

"A…week?"

He nodded, looking confident now, knowing he had her. "A week."

"I…could I…would it…"

"Sleep on it. Give me a call when you've had some time to think." He took the clip board from Quinn, quickly wrote something, then tore the edge of the paper away and handed it to her. "You're welcome to stick around and have some more breakfast. It was nice meeting you, Penny."

"Nice…meeting you too," she managed, staring at his number scrawled in crisp, sharp lines over the edge of paper.

She heard Quinn mutter something along the lines of questioning his decision but chose to ignore it. She was holding the personal cell phone number of Phillip Danburque. And he'd offered her a job. As his personal assistant. It wasn't a job on a set but it was as close as she'd ever been to tasting the life she wanted and it made her light headed just thinking about how many doors would possibly open for her should she choose to accept his offer. And even if they didn't…

"Twenty-one hundred a _week_," she breathed, a slightly hysteric laugh slipping through her parted lips.

_Think about it, Penny. And not the idea of waltzing down a red carpet draped in thousands of dollars worth of designer clothing and jewels. Think about it good and hard. What would this mean for you? _

She took a deep breath, snagged another Danish and quickly left the set, intent on calling her mother, doing a couple internet searches for personal information on Phillip Danburque and spending the evening thinking long and hard about what it would mean if she said yes.

She drove home, stopping at the store to pick up a few edible necessities after remembering the cold ramen from last night and a fridge boasting only a half a carton of milk, creamer, a can of biscuits and leftovers that would probably be best thrown out. All the while the slip of paper with his number on it burned in her pocket, keeping her at a heightened sense of awareness.

She had to remind herself to take the stares slowly and not two at a time in her haste. She felt a pang of disappointment thinking about Sheldon being at work and wishing he was home so that she could talk to someone about her morning. But he'd be at work for most of the day yet. She could always text him and see if he would like her to bring him some lunch. Then again, that would be interfering with his schedule.

She laughed breathlessly, taking the last few steps at a bit of a skip and then coming to a dead stop at the landing. Amy stood in front of her door, hands folded in front of her and a look of resolve on her face.

"Hey Amy," she started, grateful that her voice remained even and hopefully not suspicious.

"We need to talk," the other woman stated, her voice as serious as her expression.

_Crap. _

* * *

_A/N: I did what I could to research what the salary of a personal assistant to a film director would be and mostly found that the salary reflects that of the director and how much they gross a year. So forgive me for any confusion on that part but I figured that was a respectable enough amount. More than she's making now so nothing to laugh at there. :) _


End file.
